How to remove fuel tank (without spilling fuel!)

[makeyourself]

Hi I'm gonna need to remove the fuel tank on my FZS 600 soon as I'm going to be fitting heated grips. I've not removed the tank before on my Fazer. However, on my old bike (a CB 500) I just used to pivot the tank upwards a bit when I needed to get underneath until one time I needed to remove it completely. I did this, then placed it upside down (probably a massive mistake and sounds a bit stupid looking back on it!). When I went to put the tank back on fuel started leaking out of one of the two hoses (thinking about it logically now this was probably the drain hose), in fact it wouldn't stop leaking until I siphoned all the fuel out of the tank using the vacuum hose.

As you can imagine I don't particularly want to repeat this episode! So just to clarify, when removing the fuel tank on my Fazer, I'm planning to wait until the fuel light is on and tank is nearly empty. Then turn fuel to off and obviously when I remove the tank to keep it upright as it would be on the bike at all times. My main questions are obviously does this sound OK and is it OK to have a little fuel left in the tank or does it need to be completely drained before removal?

[topgun44]

i remove my went it full and i dont spill any    i done it few times plus went i did my grips i did not need to tank off 

[Fazerider]

Yes, I do just that: keep it reasonably level and leave it on a couple of blocks of wood to keep the paint from getting damaged by the concrete floor. It's a lot easier to lift off when it's near empty too.
Just remember to turn the fuel tap back on when you've got it back on the bike!

[makeyourself]

Ok cheers for the replies and advice, I'll probably go with Fazerider's to be on the safe side as last time was not an enjoyable experience!

[Captain Haddock]

I've had mine off when full too, no problem, I'll just echo the bit about turning the fuel back on again as it's too easy to get carried away and bolt it all up without doing it.

[makeyourself]

Ok yeah thanks!

[limax2]

No problem taking the tank off as discribed, but you may not need to take it off completely. If you undue the 6mm bolt at the front of the tank and slacken socket head bolt at the rear you can then pivot the tank up at the front. Prop it up with a suitable piece of wood.
The only issue with the ammount of fuel is the wieght you have to lift.

[makeyourself]

No problem taking the tank off as discribed, but you may not need to take it off completely. If you undue the 6mm bolt at the front of the tank and slacken socket head bolt at the rear you can then pivot the tank up at the front. Prop it up with a suitable piece of wood.
The only issue with the ammount of fuel is the wieght you have to lift.

Sorry I've only just seen this, once again thanks for the advice, I just thought it would probably be easier to get the tank out of the way completely and then I would also know how to do it next time.

I've just got my Oxford Hot Grips although I've just noticed a problem on the bike that is probably going to cause me a fair bit of nuisance when it comes to installation. I'm probably going to post up in a new thread regarding this.